Some American officials say the [drone] strikes in the tribal areas have forced some leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda to flee south toward Quetta, making them more vulnerable. In separate reports, groups led by both Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of American forces in the region, and Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, a top White House official on Afghanistan, have recommended expanding American operations outside the tribal areas if Pakistan cannot root out the strengthening insurgency.

Already, some counterinsurgency specialists warn, the unmanned attacks have been destabilizing to an already-fragile Pakistan government. "If we want to strengthen our friends and weaken our enemies in Pakistan, bombing Pakistani villages with unmanned drones is totally counterproductive," influential counterinsurgency adviser David Kilcullen recently told Danger Room. And that was before the mass protests in Lahore, the standoff between Pakistan's two leading politicians – and these new reports, the drone war may extend even further than before.